Road Trip
by ToriTC198
Summary: Derek has to drive Stiles across the country and Stiles is being even more annoying than usual.


This is just a brief little story done from a TUMBLR prompt.

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"SLUG BUG" Stiles yelled, punching Derek in the arm as the red Volkswagen Beetle passed them. He tried to hide the grimace as his hand protested the impact. Instead he withdrew his hand, shaking it out a little to ease the pain.

Derek ignored him.

"How about I Spy?" Proposed Stiles. Derek growled in response but Stiles, as usual, didn't get the hint. "Ok, so… I spy with my little eye something… red." It took a few moments for Stiles to realize that Derek wasn't even trying to guess. He frowned at Derek and tried again. "Something red, Derek. What is it?"

Derek tightened his grip on the steering wheel to keep himself from throttling the younger man. He couldn't believe that he had to deal with this. He thought back to a few days ago before this had all started.

Stiles had been adamant that his beat up Jeep was capable of driving him to and from college but unsurprisingly about halfway home the stupid thing had sputtered its last and promptly died. To his credit, Stiles had called literally every other friend he had first but when none of them were available he had reluctantly called Derek asking for a lift home.

At first Derek had denied the request. He had even hung up on Stiles when the boy started pleading with him. Then with a frustrated sigh Derek had called back and agreed. Stiles was pack and he couldn't just leave him in the middle of the country with no way home. Besides that, whether he had admitted it to Stiles or not, Stiles was Derek's mate and he couldn't just abandon him when he needed help. The fact that his mate also happened to annoy the living hell out of him was far less important than helping him out.

Now after, driving three days to get to where Stiles was, he had picked Stiles up and they were on the second day of their three day trip back to Beacon Hills. To say Stiles was annoying him was an understatement. The boy hadn't shut up since he got in the car.

Stiles' voice broke into Derek's thoughts as he again prodded, "I spy something red, Derek. Guess what it is."

"Your face after I bash it against the window?" Derek muttered under his breath.

Stiles apparently had better hearing than Derek expected because his face turned into a pout and he slumped down in his seat acting offended. For a few blissful moments there was silence and then Stiles was popping back up and pointing out the window saying, "Look at that cow Derek! The spots on it almost look like a smiley face."

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Derek roared, rounding on Stiles with a quick glare. "Why the hell can't you keep quiet for just two minutes?"

The bright smile on Stiles' face dimmed and Derek instantly felt bad. He focused back on the road in front of him but it didn't stop the guilt from getting worse when he heard the next words out of Stiles' mouth. "I'm sorry; I just keep trying to distract myself from something." His voice was quiet now and lacked the exuberance that had been plastered on every word he had spoken so far.

The serious tone concerned Derek. Stiles was never serious unless it was something to do with a threat to the pack. Derek shot a worried look at the teen trying to decide what to do next. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to pry further or just let it drop.

Stiles took the decision away from him by continuing voluntarily, "It's the ten year anniversary of mom's death." Derek swung the car to the side of the road pulled to a stop so he could turn to face Stiles fully and give the boy his full attention. "I didn't really want to be with anyone today, and if the Jeep hadn't died I would have been home already and I could have just hid in my apartment or something. But then I had to ask you to come and I didn't want to annoy you by being depressed." The teen's hands were shaking and his shoulders trembled. Derek was hit with a sudden urge to reach out to Stiles. "I guess I annoyed you anyway by trying too hard not to be down."

The broken tone of Stiles' voice was all the push Derek needed to wrap his arms around him. He pulled the younger man to him and Stiles quickly relaxed into the hold and let his own arms surround Derek. He clutched onto the fabric of Derek's jacket as he fought off the waves of sadness now rolling through him. The amount of comfort Stiles felt from such a simple act was astonishing.

Derek just held him quietly, rubbing his back gently. For the first time he felt that he was seeing the real Stiles. Not the face he put on to make people think he was constantly happy and not the cold calculating mastermind behind their battles with various creatures, for once he was just Stiles. Derek liked it a lot.

After a while, Stiles pulled away from Derek with a small smile and a quiet, "Thank you."

Derek nodded and responded, "You should know you don't ever have to pretend to be happy around me. Just be yourself. If that means being sad sometimes then be sad. I would rather help you through the sadness then let you hide it and suffer alone." They sat in silence for a little longer before Derek added, "I'm glad your Jeep broke down. You shouldn't be alone today and honestly your plan of just hiding in your apartment was a terrible plan."

With that, Derek turned the car back on and pulled back onto the highway. This time Stiles was quieter and they sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Derek felt Stiles grabbing his hand. Without even consciously thinking about it, Derek curled his own hand around Stiles' and a light blush stained the teen's cheeks.

Shooting a smile towards the boy, Derek said, "Hey, Stiles? Let's try to find a license plate from every state."


End file.
